Northwestern Medicine and Eko launches a new clinical study to validate algorithms that help providers more accurately screen for valvular heart disease with a digital stethoscope

Today Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and Eko have announced a partnership pioneering the use of artificial intelligence for cardiac screening in a new study of Eko’s cardiac monitoring platform. The study aims to demonstrate that Eko’s digital stethoscopes and AI algorithms can interpret heart sounds accurately to help screen for pathologic heart murmurs and valvular heart disease.

80% of Common Cardiac Events are Misdiagnosed

On average, internal medicine and family practice physician residents misdiagnose 80 percent of common cardiac events, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Cardiologists, on the other hand, can effectively diagnose 90 percent of cardiac events using a stethoscope.

Stethoscopes demand a highly trained musical ear that can separate subtle abnormalities from normal sounds with cardiologist-level precision. While more objective cardiac screening tools, such as echocardiograms, are available in specialty clinics, the low cost and speed of the stethoscope exam make it the standard for heart disease screening. Machine learning can combine the data from tens of thousands of heart sound patterns and provide that accuracy to physicians anywhere.

AI-Driven Heart Murmur Study Overview

Eko’s murmur screening algorithm, when coupled with the company’s FDA-cleared Eko Core and Eko DUO devices, will enable any and all clinicians to more accurately screen for heart murmurs. Funded by Eko, the study plans to enroll 1,000 patients, 800 of them at Northwestern. The clinical trial is part of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute’s new Center for Artificial Intelligence, where Northwestern’s cardiovascular clinical program works with early innovators in AI, develops new products, and trains physicians in this new field through Northwestern University McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Master’s program in Artificial Intelligence. Results and key findings of the study will be announced at a later date.

“One of the biggest problems in healthcare is that general practitioners so often miss heart murmurs that if found earlier would allow patients to get treatment before problems arise,” said Connor Landgraf, CEO of Eko. “Northwestern is known for their work in valvular heart diseases and together we are working on AI technology that will detect the two most prevalent valve diseases with the sensitivity of a cardiologist. The results of this study will work to bridge the gap for general practitioners and early detection of these life threatening conditions.”